Latest Statistics of Unprecedented Genocidal War on Gaza

March 30, 2024
in Reports

The Gaza’s Government Media Office published Friday, March 29, the latest update on the significant statistics of the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip since the start of this war, October 7, until today.

175 days since the outbreak of the Israeli war of genocide against the Gaza people, the enclave has witnessed the dropping of over 70,000 tons of explosives by the Israeli killing machines on the heads of people living in the most densely populated area in the world.

Casualties

During this course of time, the Israeli army has executed 2,888 massacres, resulting in the killing and missing of 39,623 Palestinians, including 32,623 martyrs who were reported in hospitals, and another 7000 Palestinians who are still missed under the rubble or reported abducted by the army.

Children

73% of the victims were sadly children and women. 14,350 innocent child were murdered in this henious war, including 28 who died of famine, marking the highest number of children’s victims whose lives were claimed due to the violence of war over history. Meanwhile, 17,000 children have been living without their parents or one of them.

Women

The number of Palestinian women who were massacred in Israeli air or ground bombarding reached 9,460 females. 60,000 pregnant women are at risk due to the lack of access to health care. Some pregnant women were reportedly rapped, verbally abused and physically assaulted by the Israeli soldiers while staying with their families in some healthcare shelters.

Personnel

364 Palestinians working the healthcare sector were also killed, while other 274 health personnel were arrested. 48 persons of the victims were from Civil Defense. 136 journalists were deliberately killed, and 12 cases of arrest of journalists whose names are known we’re reported.

Diseases

With 2 million Gazans have now been displaced either in tents or schools, 700,000 Palestinians, young or old, male or female, have been infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement, while 8,000 cases are of viral hepatitis infection due to the displacement. Other 75,092 were infected without being displaced.

Health System

The already-deteriorated health system in Gaza has been fanted in this war. 159 health institutions were targeted by the Israeli occupation. 32 hospitals have been rendered out of service by the Israeli attacks, 53 of health centers that the occupation took over are now out of service. 126 ambulances were targeted by the Israeli airstrikes.
All of the mentioned destruction has left 11,000 wounded people in need of to travel for “life-saving and dangerous” treatment. 10,000 cancer patients are at verge of death and need treatment. 350,000 chronic patients are at risk due to non-administration of medications.

Buildings

168 government headquarters were destroyed by the Israeli airstrikes or tanks’ attacks. (100, 227, 70,000) of schools and universities, mosques, and housing unites, respectively, were completely destroyed.
While (305, 294, 290,000) schools and universities, mosques, and housing unites, respectively, were partially demolished by the Israeli army war machine.
200 archaeological and heritage sites in addition to 3 churches were also destroyed and affected by the Israeli bombardment.

Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=52869

In pictures: Belfast murals display powerful

solidarity with Gaza

Pro-Palestinian murals supporting besieged Palestinians of Gaza can be spotted on the International Wall in Northern Ireland's capital.



REUTERS

A woman takes a picture on her mobile phone of a pro-Palestinian mural on the International Wall in support of Gaza. / Photo: Reuters


Belfast's International Wall is alive with murals echoing the city's solidarity with besieged Gaza where Israel's 176-day war has killed at least 32,623 Palestinians and wounded 75,092 others.

The artworks stand as a symbol of unwavering support for besieged Palestinians in the bustling capital of Northern Ireland.

Demonstrations have been held across the UK in recent months in response to Israel's brutal war that has killed and wounded thousands while more dead are believed to be buried under rubble and more than 80 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million population is displaced, many at risk of famine.



REUTERS

Israel's war on besieged Gaza — now in its 176th day — has killed at least 32,623 Palestinians and wounded 75,092 others.



REUTERS

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestine Territories Francesca Albanese has accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, adding efforts should be made to stop the "ongoing genocide" in Palestine.



OTHERS

The United Nations has warned that famine "is ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza", and says Gaza's health system is collapsing "due to ongoing hostilities and access constraints".



REUTERS

UNRWA has hailed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for ordering Israel to take measures “without delay” to ensure “the unhindered provision” of basic services and humanitarian aid.



REUTERS

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.



REUTERS

Israeli air strikes and shelling have reduced large swathes of the densely populated coastal Gaza to rubble and killed more than 32,000, some 45 percent of them children.



OTHERS

More than 80% of the 2.4 million population have been displaced by Israeli war, many of them at risk of famine.



REUTERS

World Court has unanimously ordered Israel, accused by South Africa and a UN expert of genocide in Gaza, to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to the enclave's Palestinian population and halt spreading famine.

Japanese factory searched over deaths possibly linked to dietary supplements


Japanese officials enter a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory to conduct an on-site inspection in Osaka City, on 30 March, 2024. 

Photo: AFP/ Mami Nagaoki

Japanese health officials searched a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory on Saturday after the drugmaker reported five deaths possibly linked to dietary supplements using red yeast rice, an official said.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the City of Osaka jointly inspected the factory in Osaka that had made the supplements containing "Beni-Koji" red yeast, suspected of having caused health damage, the ministry official said.

News footage showed officials entering the factory, and the official said the ministry could search other related locations.

The factory, which made the product until December, had been closed due to ageing facilities, Japanese media said.

The Osaka-based company could not immediately be reached for comment. Yuko Tomiyama, head of Kobayashi's investor relations, told public broadcaster NHK the firm intends to sincerely deal with the matter and fully cooperate with the investigation.

Kobayashi said on Friday it was investigating a suspected link between the products and their effects on the kidney since it received reports of kidney disease linked to the products.

As of Thursday evening, 114 people had been hospitalised and five had died after taking the supplements, which were marketed as helping lower cholesterol levels, according to the company.

Kobayashi said it is examining the earnings impact of the latest issues.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi criticised the company on Tuesday for its slow response, saying it was regrettable that Kobayashi took two months to announce the health impacts of its products.

The company has been recalling products with Beni-Koji in recent days after receiving reports of kidney ailments. Its products are also consumed in places such as China, and Japanese media said a case of acute renal failure had been reported in Taiwan.

A Chinese consumers association urged consumers to stop using affected products, saying it was concerned about the risk of Kobayashi products, state media reported on Friday.

Beni-Koji contains Monascus purpureus, a red mould that is also used as a red colouring in some foods.

Puberulic acid - a potent antibacterial and antimalarial agent that can be produced from blue mould and can be toxic - was confirmed in a batch of the products that caused health complaints, Japanese media said.

- This story was first published by Reuters

Japan's Kobayashi Pharma factory inspected amid supplement health scare

Xinhua
2024-03-30

Japanese health ministry officials head to search a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co factory in Osaka, Japan, on March 30, 2024, in this photo taken by Kyodo, Reuters

Japan's health ministry and local authorities on Saturday inspected the Osaka factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical following reports of deaths and hospitalizations possibly linked to its dietary supplements containing red yeast rice, known as "beni-koji."

The factory in western Japan, which was making the ingredients of the product named Beni-koji Choleste Help, a type of granules advertised with the effect of lowering LDL cholesterol levels, shut down in December.

However, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Osaka city government decided to carry out an on-site inspection in light of the widening health problems regarding the Osaka-based drugmaker's beni-koji products.

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical on Friday announced one additional death suspected to be linked to the consumption of beni-koji supplements, bringing the death toll to five.

While more than 110 people have been hospitalized over health damage and nearly 700 have either seen a doctor due to health issues or wish to do so, the company, during a press conference held in Osaka on Friday, revealed plans to compensate approximately 800 individuals who reported health issues after consuming the product.

An unintended component called "puberulic acid" has been detected in the company's product, according to Japan's health ministry.

The findings, disclosed by the Osaka-based company during an expert panel meeting convened by the health ministry on Thursday, stated that puberulic acid, derived from blue mold, was identified in a batch of the supplements linked to health issues.

The substance is a potent antibacterial and antimalarial agent that can be toxic, but the extent to which its ingestion may pose health risks or cause kidney damage remains unclear, according to the ministry.

The company rolled out Choleste Help in February 2021, selling around 1 million packages by the end of February this year.

Since last week the health scare over Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni-koji supplements has been growing after the company announced that 13 people who took the products suffered health damage including kidney disease.

According to local media reports, it took the pharmaceutical over two months to disclose the damage they had been aware of, and the Consumer Affairs Agency announced plans to conduct an emergency inspection of over 6,000 functional foods.

The voluntary recall of products containing Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni-koji as a food ingredient has now expanded nationwide, affecting various products including sake, confectionery, bread and miso.

Earlier reports showed that the company had supplied the rice fermented with red yeast to 52 manufacturers.

Source: Xinhua   Editor: Wang Qingchu

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical announces fifth death from beni-koji supplement

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Friday confirmed that its beni-koji red yeast rice supplements have claimed a fifth life. The company said 114 people who used the supplements have been hospitalized and 680 have had or are seeking outpatient treatment. 

Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE

March 29 (UPI) -- Kobayashi Pharmaceutical on Friday announced a fifth death related to its beni-koji supplements.

The company said puberulic acid from blue mold was found in the red yeast rice products, a compound that was not expected to be in the supplements.

The family of a person who died from suspected kidney failure had been taking the company's red yeast malted rice supplement, but the Japanese pharma company said it doesn't know how long the person had been using it.

The five people beni-koji users who have died so far have been in their 70s to 90s, according to Kobayashi.

Related

Two more deaths linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's keni-boji products

Deaths, hospitalizations linked to Kobayashi Pharma's beni-koji supplement

Study warns of tainted dietary supplements in U.S. market

The company said 114 people who used the supplement have been hospitalized while another 680 people have or are seeking outpatient treatment for their symptoms.

Kobayashi said it will offer compensation to all of them.

"Determining a cause and preventing (the incident) from occurring again is our responsibility. I will make sure as the company's head to get that done," Kobayashi Pharmaceutical President Akihiro Kobayashi said at a press conference.

About 300,000 packages of the company's "beni-koji choleste help" supplement marketed to lower cholesterol were recalled and Japan is sharing information about the health impacts with the World Health Organization.

Japan's government and the company are continuing to investigate the substance found in the products and how it may have gotten into them.

At the Osaka press conference Friday Kobayashi said it didn't go public with the problem until March 22 even though they first noticed a potential problem in January because they had problem identifying the cause of the health problems linked to the supplements.

Two more deaths linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's keni-boji products


Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Thursday reported two more deaths linked to its beni-koji red yeast rice supplements. More than 100 people have been hospitalized. The company has recalled the products.

March 28 (UPI) -- Two more deaths were reported Thursday linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni-koji supplement ingredients, according to the company. A total of four deaths have been reported so far.

More than 100 other people have been hospitalized with kidney problems after taking the supplements with the rice fermented with red yeast ingredient.

Kyodo News, citing a public relations officials, said that company president Akihiro Kobayash told an Osaka shareholder's meeting, "We will make a companywide, all-out effort to prevent the spread of further damage and investigate the cause" of the deaths and hospitalizations.

Japan is also sharing information about the health impacts of the supplement with the World Health Organization.

Wednesday Japan's health ministry notified the city of Osaka, where Kobayashi Pharmaceutical is based, to destroy the beni-koji products and the city issued the order to the company.

The company said it was notified of the first death Tuesday.

Roughly 300,000 packages of the company's "beni-koji choleste help" supplement marketed to lower cholesterol were recalled.

According to Japan's health ministry most of the reports of people suffering health problems from the beni-koji supplements are linked to those manufactured since September last year.

A wide range of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical products containing beni-koji are affected and the company has asked that all companies with supplies of the product voluntarily recall them.

Baltimore's bridge collapse recalls lessons of Florida tragedy decades ago

In 1980, a ship crashed into Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay, killing 35


The Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Fla., was rebuilt in 1987 after the original bridge collapsed in 1981. A freighter struck a support post during a storm, collapsing the southbound span. A Greyhound bus and seven other vehicles were plunged into the water, killing 35 people.

 File Photo by Robert Neff/Wikimedia Commons

March 27 (UPI) -- The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday over Baltimore's Patapsco River, where six people remain missing and presumed dead, is drawing tragic comparisons to a similar bridge collapse in Florida 44 years ago.

On the morning of May 9, 1980, a freighter slammed into the support columns of the old Sunshine Skyway bridge over Tampa Bay during a violent thunderstorm, causing a 1,300-foot section of the southbound span to collapse. A Greyhound bus and seven other vehicles plunged into the water, where 35 people died. Only the driver of a pickup truck survived the drop.

In Baltimore, a Singapore-based cargo ship is reported to have issued a mayday Tuesday morning after losing power. Crews performing pothole work on the bridge alerted drivers to stop the flow of traffic as the ship crashed into a support column, collapsing much of the span and sending eight people into the water. Two were rescued as a search continued for the other six until late Tuesday, when it was called off.

Both bridge collapses involved freighters hitting support columns, collapsing much of the span, and plunging vehicles and people into the water below. Both bridge collapses cut off a major artery for drivers and for shipping. And both spans that collapsed opened in the 1970s.

Related

Six construction workers presumed dead in Baltimore bridge collapse as search called off

As investigators gather in Baltimore to determine what happened Tuesday, the question is what lessons learned from Florida's tragedy decades ago could have made a difference this week.

Post-disaster findings

In Florida's bridge collapse, the pilot of the ship, John Lerro, ultimately was cleared of negligence and the collision was deemed an accident. During months of hearings, Lerro maintained that he had no control over the freighter and was at the mercy of the 70-mph winds as he navigated through the 800-foot-wide opening under the twin bridge spans.

"We believe he made a reasonable decision of attempting to transit under the bridge, in view of his fear of slamming into the bridge broadside," Douglas Rabe, chief National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said in 1981. Investigators ultimately determined the National Weather Service should have warned mariners of the severe storm and that Lerro should have abandoned his attempt to navigate under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

While Tuesday's bridge collapse is still early in the investigation, there are reports that the crew aboard the cargo ship Dali issued a "mayday," saying the vessel had lost power, before it slammed into one of the support piers of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Engineering protective barriers

On Tuesday, engineers and bridge designers raised questions about the structural safety of Baltimore's bridge and whether protective barriers around the support columns would have prevented the tragedy.

British structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told The Baltimore Sun that protective barriers include cable systems, pontoons, caissons and submerged islands. Firth said the most commonly used protection for bridge support columns are bumpers or "dolphins," which are filled with sand or concrete to protect the bridge from cargo ships.

When the Sunshine Skyway was rebuilt in 1987 at a cost of $240 million, engineers added dolphins mounted to artificial islands to protect the bridge from "potential water-traffic collisions." The six piers, closest to the shipping channel in Tampa Bay, are protected and the two main piers are flanked by 60-foot dolphins, which can withstand an impact of up to 30 million pounds.

Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge opened 10 years earlier in 1977. Codes for building bridges and their structures have changed over the years and vary state by state to accommodate vehicle traffic above and maximum access for water traffic to traverse underneath.

Benjamin Schafer, a professor of civil and systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told the Sun that protecting the bridge piers, in the unlikely event that a large freighter is unable to navigate, could have made a difference Tuesday.

"This sort of protection is what FSK did not have, and we can see now that it may -- may -- have helped," Schafer said.

Scenes from Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

A damaged container ship rests next to a bridge pillar in the Patapsco River after crashing into and destroying the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the entrance to Baltimore harbor on March 26, 2024.

 Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

Explained: The outrage over the racist cartoon mocking Indian crew of ship behind Baltimore bridge crash

FP Explainers • March 29, 2024

An American webcomic posted an illustration of the Baltimore bridge collapse incident showing the ship’s Indian crew wearing loincloths ahead of the collision. This came a day after US president Biden praised the team for their prompt Mayday call

The narrative has drawn criticism for both undermining the ship's crew and for its racist portrayal of Indians. Image Courtesy: @FoxfordComics/X

An out-of-control cargo ship rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting in six presumed fatalities on 26 March.

The Indian crew on the ship is receiving praise from US President Joe Biden, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and other prominent figures; yet, a “racist” cartoon that depicts the tragedy has sparked controversy.

Let’s take a look.

The racist cartoon

An American webcomic has posted an illustration of the tragic event the day after US president Biden praised the ship’s crew, the majority of whom were Indians, for their prompt Mayday call.

The animated film, which was aimed at the ship’s crew, depicts dishevelled men wearing only loincloths ahead of the collision. 

An audio clip of people cursing at each other in English with a heavy Indian accent was also included in the cartoon.

The video was posted on X with the caption, “Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before impact,” by Foxford Comics.

With 4.2 million views and more than 2,000 comments, the image has become widely popular.

Parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge remain after a container ship collided with one of the bridge’s supports in Baltimore. Rescuers are searching for multiple people in the water. WJLA via AP

Criticism

The narrative has drawn criticism for both undermining the ship’s crew and for its racist portrayal of Indians.

Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal shared the cartoon and stated that a local pilot was probably in control of the ship at the time of the tragedy.

“At the time that the ship hit the bridge, it would have had a local pilot. In any case, the crew had warned the authorities which is why the casualties were relatively few (for such a disaster). The mayor in fact thanked the Indian crew as “heroes” for raising an alarm that limited casualties,” he said.

Another X user said, “It’s shameful that people are mocking Indian crew for the tragic incident. Meanwhile the governor himself praised the crew.”

“This racist trash is one of the reasons that many Indians still don’t prefer the United States, apart from the cheap way in which your gun laws enable your citizens to dispose our brethren due to the same racist agenda without fear,” a third user chipped in.

Biden and others praise Indian crew

Synergy said all crew members and the two pilots on board were accounted for, and there were no reports of any injuries. “All 22 crew members of Cargo ship that hit Key Bridge in Baltimore are Indian,” Synergy said in a statement issued on its website.

After the tragedy, Maryland governor Wes Moore hailed the Indian crew on board the Dali , saying that it was their quick thinking that saved other lives.

US president Biden said that the crew notifying officials that they had lost control of the ship, prompted the shutdown of the bridge, a move that “undoubtedly” resulted in the saving of many lives.

Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of their vessel. As a result, local authorities were able to close the bridge to traffic before it was struck, which undoubtedly saved lives,” stated Biden during his comments at the White House regarding the collapse.

Aerial view of the Dali cargo vessel which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in Baltimore. Six people have been presumed dead following the incident. Reuters

Baltimore bridge tragedy

The ship flying under Singapore’s flag departed from Baltimore port at 1 am local time on Tuesday for a journey lasting around one month to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as per Marine Traffic.

The operators of the Dali cargo ship issued a mayday call that the vessel had lost power moments before the crash. At around 1.28 am, the vessel struck one of the 2.6-kilometre bridge’s supports, causing the span to break and fall into the water within seconds.  Puffs of black smoke were seen as the lights flickered on and off.

The six missing people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, according to Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary. Guatemala’s consulate in Maryland said in a statement that two of the missing were citizens of the Central American nation. Honduras’ deputy foreign affairs minister Antonio Garcia told AP that a Honduran citizen, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was missing. The Washington Consulate of Mexico also said on X that citizens of that nation were also among the missing.

A view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, after the Dali cargo vessel crashed into it causing it to collapse, in Baltimore. Reuters

Rescuers pulled two people out of the water, one of whom was treated at a hospital and discharged hours later. Multiple vehicles also went into the river, although authorities did not believe anyone was inside.

Tuesday’s collapse might create a logistical nightmare along the East Coast for months, if not years, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore.

The port is a major East Coast hub for shipping. The four-lane bridge spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to the busy harbour, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

The governors of those states promised in a joint statement on Thursday that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will plan to take on more cargo to assist minimise the impacts on the supply chain up the coast from Baltimore.

Other racist cartoons

There have been numerous occasions in the past where visuals have drawn attention to the unequal treatment given to different nations.

In August 2023, a German magazine named Der Spiegel published a cartoon depicting India’s population overtaking China. It showed an overcrowded Indian train passing a modernised Chinese bullet train travelling on a parallel track with only two drivers inside. The passengers on top of the Indian train were seen holding the tricolour.

While people on social media heavily criticised the inaccurate portrayal, some politicians and other authorities have also used Twitter to condemn the cartoon as “racist” and “derogatory.”

In 2015, a cartoon was published in the Australian newspaper depicting starving Indians chopping up and eating solar panels sent to the developing nation in an attempt to curb carbon emissions has been condemned as “unequivocally racist.”

Drawn by the veteran cartoonist Bill Leak, the cartoon received massive criticism for being racist. Amanda Wise, an associate professor of sociology at Macquarie University, was quoted as saying by The Guardian, “This cartoon is unequivocally racist and draws on very base stereotypes of third world, underdeveloped people who don’t know what to do with technology,”

In 2014, the New York Times newspaper published a cartoon showing a man, wearing a shirt, dhoti, and a turban, standing with a cow and knocking on the door of a room marked “Elite Space Club” where two bespectacled men donning Western clothes were reading a newspaper on India’s Mars Mission.

The cartoon, made by Singapore-based artist Heng Kim Song, accompanied an article titled India’s Budget Mission to Mars. It received widespread condemnation, with many calling it ”racist,” and accusing it of mocking India.

For the uninitiated, in September the same year, India became the first nation to successfully put the Mangalyaan robotic probe into orbit around Mars on its first attempt. With this, ISRO joined the elite club of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Soviet Union for carrying out successful missions to the Red Planet.

With inputs from agencies

Global real estate market hits $365.51 trillion in 2023

Oktay Ozdemir |

30.03.2024 - 


ISTANBUL

A Turkish real estate firm, Trem Global, announced that the global real estate and infrastructure market hit a record high of $365.51 trillion in 2023.

The real estate sector, which has defied global economic fluctuations, continues to maintain its strength this year, according to the company's statement Thursday, based on Precedence Research results.

The increase in the market was achieved in an environment full of geopolitical tensions in the residential segment.

Murat Meric, deputy general manager of sales at Trem Global, said Türkiye is an attractive destination for foreign and domestic investors with its dynamic economy and rich real estate options.

"Türkiye is a bridge in international real estate markets and its competitive advantages are increasing," he added.

Meric stated that between 2022 and 2023, investors from 52 nationalities pioneered their investments in Türkiye, and "in 2024, the demand started to come mainly from western countries and this situation will provide diversity in Türkiye's real estate markets and will pave the way for both Türkiye's economy and innovative approaches in the real estate sector."

The firm expected that 2023 will see significant transformation for the real estate sector toward a smart, sustainable and diverse future.

While tourism and infrastructure investments in the Middle East support the growth of the real estate market, trends such as the rise of co-living spaces, increasing digitalization in real estate transactions and sustainable development come to the fore, according to the statement.

The company said factors such as Saudi Arabia's mega cities, Dubai's rising trend and Istanbul's topping the list of the world's most visited cities last year are increasing the daily interest of international investors in those countries.

International investment trends continue to play an important role in real estate markets, it noted.

While factors such as wars and natural disasters cause population loss, issues such as economic opportunities, education and quality of life increase the demand for migration to developed and developing countries, it said.

The US, Germany, Canada, Australia, Australia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries expected to receive the most immigration in 2024, it asserted.

It stressed that while this trend increases the demand for real estate in immigrant countries, it leads to a decrease in demand in immigrant countries.

Türkiye continues to attract the attention of international investors in 2024 with its strategic geographical location, increasing tourism statistics, diversity in the real estate ecosystem and climate advantages, it added.

Why Russia is protecting North Korea from nuclear monitors

On March 28, Russia used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to kill off a U.N. panel of experts that has been monitoring North Korea’s efforts to evade sanctions over its nuclear program for the past 15 years

David E. Sanger 

Washington 

Published 30.03.24

Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin


Through the most tense encounters with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia over the past decade, there has been one project in which Washington and Moscow have claimed common cause: keeping North Korea from expanding its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Now, even that has fallen apart.

On Thursday, Russia used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to kill off a U.N. panel of experts that has been monitoring North Korea’s efforts to evade sanctions over its nuclear program for the past 15 years.

Russia’s discomfort with the group is a new development. Moscow once welcomed the panel’s detailed reports about sanctions violations and considered Pyongyang’s nuclear program to be a threat to global security.

But more recently, the panel has provided vivid evidence of how Russia is keeping the North brimming with fuel and other goods, presumably in return for the artillery shells and missiles that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is shipping to Russia for use against Ukraine. The group has produced satellite images of ship-to-ship transfers of oil, showing how the war in Ukraine has proved to be a bonanza for the North.

The apparent dismantlement of the panel, which had no enforcement power, is one more piece of evidence of how what was once a global effort to constrain nuclear proliferation has eroded rapidly over the past two years.

“It’s a remarkable shift,” said Robert Einhorn, a State Department official during the Obama administration who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“For much of the post-Cold War period, the United States, Russia and China were partners in dealing with proliferation challenges, especially with North Korea and Iran. They were fully on the American and European side during the Iran negotiations, and helped with North Korea during the ‘fire and fury’ period in 2016 to 2017,” he said, referring to the Obama administration’s final negotiations with the North and former President Donald Trump’s threats when he came to office.

In that era, Russia regularly voted for sanctions against North Korea, as did China, even while they all did a fair bit of business, and more than a little smuggling at sea and over their narrow border crossing, especially a rail bridge where the three all meet.

But as Einhorn noted, that unity has fractured with the reemergence of great power competition. The partnership on containing nuclear threats, even from North Korea, whose nuclear facilities pose a safety challenge to both China and Russia, has vanished.

Russia is now helping North Korea evade sanctions, and neither Russia nor China is actively working to pressure Iran to slow its accumulation of enriched uranium, the critical step needed if it ever decides to build nuclear weapons.

When resolutions have come up to condemn North Korea for its constant barrage of missile tests, Russia and China have rejected them. But eliminating the “experts committee,” which began its work in 2009, cuts new territory in relieving pressure on the country.

The Russian government made no apologies for killing off the panel.

“It is obvious to us that the U.N. Security Council can no longer use old templates in relation to the problems of the Korean Peninsula,” a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, was quoted by Reuters as saying. “The United States and its allies have clearly demonstrated that their interest does not extend beyond the task of ‘strangling’ the DPRK by all available means,” she added, using the abbreviation for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The committee had no great investigative powers, but it was thorough — and its findings often created headlines. It followed oil shipments, and explained what happened when ships turned off their transponders so they would not be tracked at sea. The group looked at banking relationships and luxury goods that made it to North Korea, despite sanctions passed 18 years ago. It also inspired private groups to dig deeper, explaining mysteries like how Kim got his luxury cars.

The experts were outsiders, and their findings were often not adopted. “Everything that goes into the report has to be approved by Security Council members,” Jenny Town, a North Korea expert and senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a nonproliferation think tank, noted Friday. “So while it is an investigative body, its findings exist in a political process.”

Still, the existence of the committee gave an international, neutral imprimatur to the charges of sanctions evasion. “They have been very useful in producing some gravitas on sanctions implementation,” said Town, who is also the director of 38 North, which publishes analysis of North Korea’s capabilities and pronouncements.

The State Department denounced Russia’s decision, saying that the country had “cynically undermined international peace and security,” and declaring that “Russia alone will own the outcome of this veto: a DPRK more emboldened to reckless behavior and destabilizing provocations.”

The New York Times News Service

Five Miners Killed After Roof Collapses Due To Heavy Rain In Balochistan

The coal mine collapsed due to the torrential rain and five workers were buried under the debris and died, officials said.

PTI
Updated on: 30 March 2024 

Roof collapses due to heavy rainfall in Pakistan

At least five mine workers were killed when the roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rainfall in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

According to the police officials, the house was built for the accommodation of the workers outside the local coal mine.

The coal mine collapsed due to the torrential rain and five workers were buried under the debris and died, they said.

According to the police authorities, the bodies of the deceased were shifted to the hospital, from where they were sent to their native areas after necessary action.

The heavy rains have also killed some seven people from a house collapse in the same area, police said.

The incident comes just days after 12 coal miners were killed in a methane gas explosion inside a mine in Harnai in the province while in another incident three coal miners were kidnapped four days back by armed men from a mine in Dukki and are yet to be recovered by the law enforcement agencies.

The latest incident has again reignited the discussion around the existing safety protocols for coal mine workers and the steps needed to enhance these protocols to save lives.

 

Suppressing boredom at work hurts future productivity, study shows

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Boredom is more common at work than in any other setting, studies show, and employees are bored at work for more than 10 hours per week on average.

Even astronauts and police officers get bored on the job. No occupation is immune.

Boredom serves an important purpose — it signals the need to stop an action and find an alternative project. But boredom becomes problematic when it’s ignored.

New research from the University of Notre Dame shows that trying to stifle boredom prolongs its effects and that alternating boring and meaningful tasks helps to prevent the effects of one boring task from spilling over to reduce productivity on others.

“Breaking Boredom: Interrupting the Residual Effect of State Boredom on Future Productivity,” forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Psychology from lead author Casher Belinda, assistant professor of management at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, along with Shimul Melwani from the University of North Carolina and Chaitali Kapadia from Florida International University.

The team sought to understand if, when and why experiencing boredom now might lead to attention and productivity deficits later. They tested these possibilities in three studies that examined the consequences of boredom on a task-to-task basis.

The first study drew on data from dual-career families working in a variety of industries. Participants responded to multiple surveys per day at different intervals, enabling the team to examine the relationships between boredom, attention and productivity over time. Follow-up studies used alternative methods to reach a broader audience and focused on how meaningful work tasks help mitigate boredom’s prolonged effects.

Belinda, who specializes in emotions, interpersonal communication and close relationships within organizations, noted that boredom is viewed as a nuisance emotion that any strong-willed employee should subdue for the sake of productivity.

He found that experiencing boredom at any one point in time leads to delayed or residual bouts of mind-wandering. Employees often try to “power through” boring tasks to make progress on their work goals, but he said that not only does this fail to prevent boredom’s negative effects, it’s also one of the most dysfunctional responses to boredom.

“Like whack-a-mole, downplaying boredom on one task results in attention and productivity deficits that bubble up during subsequent tasks,” he said. “Paradoxically, then, trying to suppress boredom gives its harmful effects a longer shelf life.”

Part of the solution lies in how work tasks are organized throughout the day. Although boring tasks can’t be avoided, effectively combating the negative effects of boredom requires careful consideration of the nature of different work tasks and how they are sequenced. Casher said it helps to work strategically, looking beyond a single boring task.

“‘Playing the long game’ will help minimize the cumulative effects of boredom over the course of the day,” Belinda explained. “Following an initial boring task, employees should turn to other meaningful tasks to help restore lost energy.”

Contact: Casher Belinda, 574-621-9629, cbelinda@nd.edu

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Applied Psychology

ARTICLE TITLE

Breaking boredom: Interrupting the residual effect of state boredom on future productivity.